Does Money Impact Cancer Doctors??

Does Money Impact Cancer Doctors?? A doctor from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York led a study reviewing research on the impact of fee-for-service payment on oncologist decision making.

Fee-for-Service payment incentivizes doctors to perform more frequent and more expensive tests, procedures and treatments. 73% of doctors are in favor of fee-for-service and only 3% of doctors think money impacts their decision making.

The study is a meta-analysis of 18 studies involving prostate, breast, lung, bladder and colon cancers.

The meta-analysis found:
1) Oncologists ordered more Radiation Therapy when their practice owned a Radiation Therapy Facility (as they would also receive the radiation therapy facility fees in addition to doctor professional fees).

2) Oncologists tended to order more expensive chemotherapy and when a chemotherapy became generic and less expensive, they ordered less of it (oncologists make more money from ordering expensive chemotherapy as opposed to less expensive, generic chemotherapy).

As the article concluded, "Expecting physicians to practice blind to incentives is unrealistic."

Sources:

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[presterjohn]

Sobering. More Americans need to hear this.

[garyschreiber]

With radiation therapy There are incentives with FFS to do more treatments (ie fractions) cuz you make more money by doing so
There are incentives with bundling to do fewer but larger fractions even if there are more side effects or risk of complications
There are always incentives and disincentives which is why reputation of the provider is so important

[Koru-AI]

The more resources one has the higher the probability of a favorable outcome. Whether they know it or not, behind every provider decision there's an accountant.

[jonathanharris]

A good book to continue learning is "The Price We Pay" by Dr. Marty Makary.

Still waiting for you to write a book Dr. Bricker! :)

[ScottRoloff]

Dr. Bricker, I would question what is the cause versus what is the effect. For example, the implication is that an oncologist who owns a radiation facility will use radiation more often because the physician profits from it. But alternatively, maybe this oncologist believes radiation is the most effective therapy, and that belief caused him to buy a radiation facility.

[suemilkbone]

Well, if I ever get cancer and my choice is either FFS or bundled payment, I would rather have FFS.

[gambler]

Hello sir
I am asking my career related doubt to you
I am currently working under a health care provider
My job is to take take follow up on claims
Calling insurance and take details of denial claims or codes.
Now I am thinking to upgrade myself.
If i clear the professional coding specialist exam
can I get any promotion in my job based on that certificate or can I directly work under a Doctor……..?
Hope you will guide me
Thanks……

[OOICU]

"A World Without Cancer." Read it! It will open your 😳.

[JoshKlearman]

Hello! I've been searching for a way to contact you directly. I noticed you had made a video on GPO's in the past but didn't go through the GPO level of non-acute care? I work for Medigroup (a partner of Vizient) and would love to see if we can partner up to provide the non-acute care community with the honesty and benefits of joining a GPO. I believe there is not only a lack of knowledge of the benefits but also a lack of understanding that GPO's like ourselves are free and can provide immense value. Can we connect?